Firmware and persistent files facilitate the operation of portable electronic devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants. The persistent files typically include non-volatile data defining default content and data needed for general system operation of the device. Examples of persistent files include font files, language support files, and default multimedia content such as sounds, pictures and videos. In conventional devices, the firmware and persistent files are stored in non-volatile memory, non-execute-in-place (non-XIP), such as a NAND flash memory device, and are copied to an execute in place (XIP) memory device, such as RAM (random access memory) or SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random access memory). As the functionality and complexity of portable electronic devices increases, the memory required for persistent files and firmware also increases. In addition to increased functionality, industry competition and consumer demands require manufacturing costs for portable devices to continually decrease. In conventional devices, the persistent files can not be directly accessed when in the non-XIP flash memory. As a result, conventional devices are limited in that the XIP memory device within a portable electronic device must have sufficient capacity for the executable code and persistent files copied from the non-XIP flash memory.
Accordingly, there is need for an apparatus, system, and method for accessing persistent files stored in non-XIP flash memory.